3 month old screams for 2 hours before bed

[Georgiemai7]

My daughters always had a really bad sleeping schedule, we have tried everything and the doctor said she would just grow out of it. She was 3 months last Sunday.

She does not sleep or nap at all in the day but will sleep solidly from 1:30am till about 9:30 in the morning.
The past week starting around 11/11:30pm she will scream and scream with tears until about 1:30 when she falls asleep for the night and that's always in my arms until I can edge her down.

It's so upsetting to see And last night was so bad I just broke down because I just can't do anything to help her.
She's perfectly fine in the day, smiling at everything and cooing away. Then bang it's like a completely different baby!

Has anyone had anything similar? How long will this last? I'm scared that she will make her self sick with all the screaming!

[JonesyAndTheSalad]

The not napping seems extreme for a baby of this age. Do you put her down for a nap at all? To try?

[Georgiemai7]

Yes I've tried everything, health visitor and doctor said that's normal for some babies and she'll grow out of it.
It's the night time screaming that's the problem,
I don't mind her being awake in the day if she's getting a good nights sleep. She's getting a good 7 hours when she does sleep.

[hopeful31yrs]

Our 4 month old has just grown out of the dreaded colic which would leave him hysterical for hours before falling asleep at a similar time. He also has reflux which from time to time still renders him inconsolable but not nearly as bad since we started him on thickened formula.

However there maybe a few other things causing the screaming. The first being no naps. It maybe possible more sleep (however you get it - pram walks in order to ensure a long daytime nap/car rides) will make the night situation better. The other possibility maybe the dreaded 4 month sleep regression which I believe can hit early in some cases.

[Nikki2ol6]

My baby is the same. He's 8 weeks old and he's in hospital as needed surgery but every night he's the same for hours and hours then it's almost like someone flicks a switch and he sleeps. The Drs have checked him or many times the nurses and checked him and nobody can find a medical cause for his pain. They tell me it's colic and very common in babies of this age and there are different things to try which we have tired but they haven't helped so I'm told he will outgrow it

[Slippersandacuppa]

Have a look at silent reflux. DS was the same, smiley and happy all day then screaming at night until he finally fell asleep, exhausted. He was finally diagnosed at 4 months and put on medication. If you think it might be, never let her lie flat - her head should always be higher than her feet. Good luck

[cherrypiemay16]

It could also be that she's over stimulated if she hasn't napped and that's just her way of 'winding down'. Equally sounds colicky too, maybe try some infacol/gripe water/colief? Poor you, it's so sad when they scream and such a long time! The block of sleep is good though! Any way you can try and edge it forward? Nice routine with bath and lots of quiet time? Easier said than done I know. Good luck x

[LapinR0se]

Is your 3 month old really only getting 8 hours of sleep in every 24? That isn't right at all. And it's not true that some babies just don't nap. Maximum awake time at 12-16 weeks is about 90 mins. You might then get only a short nap of 30 mins but it's absolutely needed and around 5 or 6 of those a day would be required at this age

[Oysterbabe]

I think if you were to sort the daytime napping the overtired screaming at night would improve. Will she nap in the pram if you go for a walk?

[Figgygal]

Definitely need to sort out the day sleeps what about the buggy or the car? My 4mo has 3 naps a day which have become quite short maybe 30-45 minutes each then probably 11 hours at night (with a night feed in between)

[BertrandRussell]

What happens if you feed her?

[SwimmingMom]

Sounds typical of colic.

[champagneplanet]

I also think colic or reflux. We had this with DD around 12-16 weeks. She's always been a brilliant sleeper and from six weeks we were still getting 7/8 hours per night once her screaming fits had subsided each night.

HV suggested weaning her as early as possible and it stopped instantly literally the day she had baby rice for dinner. In the interim we were given gaviscon powder for her bottles and she used to have hungry baby formula before bed as it was thicker. Didn't look back after she started eating mush!